2015 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne

[Sevach]

True, but Alonso is thinking of 2016. He doesn't really care about 2015.

I'd put money on an Alonso podium or two later in the season.

I don't, the situation is truly dire.

[Unc1eM0nty]

They supposedly used four engines in pre season testing. Even if they become competitive they may be sent to the back of the grid anyway if they've eaten through all their engines. Just throwing out a potential situation.

This is the scenario I fear but one I think is very likely to happen.

If / when they do get on top of their reliability problems and become competitive, that they're already running out of engines and have to take grid penalties, i'ts a cruel, cruel world.

[Andres125sx]

I don´t see that as a mayor problem, Mercedes proved last season if you´re competitive it doesn´t matter that much where you start from

But that´s supposing they´re competitive enough obviously (and reliable), that is the main problem I think

[Jordan44]

I don´t see that as a mayor problem, Mercedes proved last season if you´re competitive it doesn´t matter that much where you start from

But that´s supposing they´re competitive enough obviously (and reliable), that is the main problem I think

No ones expecting them to be dominant like Mercedes. Plus even Mercedes only managed to reach the final podium position when starting at the back of the grid. This year McLaren won't get a car that can start from the back of the grid and smash through the field. So starting out of position won't help them, and certainly won't allow them to get to the prospect of a podium.

[SectorOne]

Depends, Rosberg had no issues hitting second in Russia but Hamilton with a broken wing managed third in Germany for example.
Got the best car and the cream will rise to the top whether you like it or not.

[ismail1991]

True, but Alonso is thinking of 2016. He doesn't really care about 2015.

I don't think Alonso can wait any longer. If mclaren can't sort its problems this year, we might see Alonso take another trip to another team like Redbull

[ParkerArt]

True, but Alonso is thinking of 2016. He doesn't really care about 2015.

I don't think Alonso can wait any longer. If mclaren can't sort its problems this year, we might see Alonso take another trip to another team like Redbull

I don't see that. Red Bull prides itself on it's driver development program, from WSR up to the full RBR race team.

[SiLo]

Well last year apart from Mercedes, it was quite close for the teams behind, but this year it actually looks worse.

I'll probably be proved wrong in the race though when we realise once again, teams can produce completely different cars that can lap a track within tenths of a second of each other.

[f1316]

If Hamilton doesn't re sign, you can bet your bottom dollar that Alonso will do everything he can to get the seat. I also doubt he would have left himself without any performance get out clauses.

Back to the race, you have to go back to 2010 to find the last time Ferrari had the second best car on the grid. *if* they do this year, that in itself is an achievement, particularly as it turns out they have more engine tokens left than Mercedes.

[Gaz.]

I don't recall any story about Red Bull demanding Toro Rosso's car to get out of the way, or anything like that. No polemic episode like Sauber (Perez) vs Ferrari (Alonso). Did this happen sometime? Cause I agree that STR looks faster than RBR right now.

http://www.pitpass.com/45446/Alguersuar ... -Marko-row

[Artur Craft]

Raikkonen was very close to the Mercedes pace on the soft tyres. Absolutly no drop off.

Yes, it seems Ferrari is closer than the 0,7s to Mercedes

If everybody was on same fuel level(likely not), it would be quite close from Mercedes to Ferrari and then a big gap to everybody else. If Red Bull wasn't carrying full tanks on Kvyat's racesim, then, they are really slow.

http://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/ ... es_V01.pdf
Rosberg "racesim" on softs tires (full times as Lorenzo_Bandini didn't post them)
12 P 2:37.721
13 2:08.090
14 1:33.519
15 1:31.769
16 1:32.833
17 1:31.829
18 1:32.180
19 1:32.195
20 1:32.005
21 1:36.850
22 1:32.353
23 1:32.409
24 P 2:03.603

Kimi "racesim" on soft tires
16 P 2:14.688
17 1:40.865
18 1:32.716
19 1:32.430
20 1:32.616
21 1:32.679
22 1:32.410
23 1:32.541
24 1:32.523
25 1:32.554
26 1:32.102
27 1:32.331
28 1:32.109
29 1:31.966
30 1:31.885
31 1:32.187
32 1:32.078
33 1:32.521

Kimi 6 laps longer but still with similar times.

Mercedes likely sandbagged a bit but, still, Ferrari can be very close to them on race pace, perhaps.(Lewis' racesim is even less representative with fewer laps)

My bet is that Williams is definitely far behind Ferrari. I'm not a naive guy that believes Ferrari will fight for the tittle and etc but, imho, they are not massively behind Mercedes going by the racesim laps, even if we don't know the fuel loads. Rosberg could be on full tanks while Kimi on 3/4 or less, but Rosberg still kept getting slower on a shorter stint and Kimi kept improving until the end of the session.

I just wanted to post this in case Ferrari surprises in QLF(by not being that much behind Mercedes) and then people can't say: "oh, nobody saw this coming"

[fawe4]

True, but Alonso is thinking of 2016. He doesn't really care about 2015.

Actually, right now he's thinking of 2010 according to some newspapers.

[atanatizante]

Raikkonen was very close to the Mercedes pace on the soft tyres. Absolutly no drop off.

Yes, it seems Ferrari is closer than the 0,7s to Mercedes

If everybody was on same fuel level(likely not), it would be quite close from Mercedes to Ferrari and then a big gap to everybody else
...
Mercedes likely sandbagged a bit but, still, Ferrari can be very close to them on race pace, perhaps.(Lewis' racesim is even less representative with fewer laps)

My bet is that Williams is definitely far behind Ferrari. I'm not a naive guy that believes Ferrari will fight for the tittle and etc but, imho, they are not massively behind Mercedes going by the racesim laps, even if we don't know the fuel loads. Rosberg could be on full tanks while Kimi on 3/4 or less, but Rosberg still kept getting slower on a shorter stint and Kimi kept improving until the end of the session.

I just wanted to post this in case Ferrari surprises in QLF(by not being that much behind Mercedes) and then people can't say: "oh, nobody saw this coming"

Nico and Lewis were on detuned engine mode ...
The same like Bottas, which even recognized that there is more to come for FP3 and Qualy ( : a superior engine mode) ...
Seems like in 2015 Williams are trying to mimic what Merc is doing, isn`t it?

[Moose]

Pretty sure at this rate McLaren can't make the 107% cut off.

Their best laps atm are 1:36s, and they look like they're pretty representative of what the car can do.

Q1's fastest lap is likely to be around 1:28-1:29, which means 1:34.5ish is likely to be the 107% time.

[Moose]

Pretty sure at this rate McLaren can't make the 107% cut off.

Their best laps atm are 1:36s, and they look like they're pretty representative of what the car can do.

Q1's fastest lap is likely to be around 1:28-1:29, which means 1:34.5ish is likely to be the 107% time.

I stand corrected - looks like McLaren might just squeak in with Button getting a 1:31.6. Even if Merc put in a 1:26 in Q1 they should make it through (just).